
Wedding disrupted, worship banned at site in Indonesia
Local officials in Indonesia on Sunday (June 30) stopped a wedding ceremony and banned the church from further worship meetings at the site, sources said.

Local officials in Indonesia on Sunday (June 30) stopped a wedding ceremony and banned the church from further worship meetings at the site, sources said.
As the USA continues beyond its 250th anniversary, it is important to be reminded that the idea of freedom of religion and belief, one of its most significant values, did not develop from Enlightenment philosophy but with the theological conviction of an English Baptist who ultimately died for that conviction.
As the United Nations Refugee Convention marks its 75th anniversary on July 28, Christians are faced with an important question: when institutions become ineffective, unresponsive, or disconnected from the concerns of faith communities, should we disengage or continue to engage?
In the British Crown's "The Sovereign Grant" annual report, King Charles is revealed as "Supreme Governor of the Church of England... protecting the space for Faith (sic) within the multi-faith nation". This reveals a subtle shift in the British monarch's mandate. Not just protecting but potentially validating all faiths, which is biblically untenable.
The anti-Christian realities in India provide ample evidence that a culture can quickly turn against freedom of religion. Sadly, in India, some Christian leaders claim that if there is one place you can go to remain unaware of what is happening, it is in established churches on a Sunday morning! Thankfully the Holy Spirit is not so constrained and Christians continue to multiply in the midst of heightening persecution.

Village officials in central Laos on Saturday (June 22) arrested a pastor and five other Christians as they prayed in preparation for worship services the next day, according to a rights watchdog.

A rights group slammed a Munich official’s opposition to a Christian faith conference in Germany as a “direct attack on religious freedom.”

Not a day passed when Allah Rakhi Bibi would not cry for her husband Nazeer Masih Gill, beaten to death at 74 by a Muslim mob on a false blasphemy accusation a month ago.

Police in Pakistan on Sunday (June 23) arrested a Christian under blasphemy laws as part of his siblings’ effort to retaliate against him over a property dispute, sources said.

Three days of mourning have begun in Russia’s predominantly Muslim Republic of Dagestan after a spate of terror attacks on Sunday (June 23) left a Russian Orthodox priest, three other civilians and at least 15 police officers dead, Russian officials said.

A heightened sense of impunity and nationalism contributed to a surge in attacks on Christians and church properties in Israel in 2023, according to a Jerusalem-based inter-religious organization report.